Religion: Beliefs, Influence, and Comparison of Major Religions
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Presentation Transcript
Religion What is it?
Religion – is simply defined as a system of beliefs *God or gods, supernatural forces, divine energy, or philosophies
Why is there a need for religion? • It can try to explain the unknown • what happens after death? • It can give meaning and purpose to life • why are we here? • It can provide a guide for proper behavior • 10 Commandments • ** religion is probably the greatest influence over individuals in a particular society / culture
Types of religion • Monotheism is the belief in one god • Polytheism is the belief in many gods • Animism is the belief in divine forces in nature (aka paganism) • Other • Atheism – belief in no gods • Agnostic – don’t know…its possible – need conclusive evidence
Structure of religions • History / beliefs / laws – usually written down in a holy book (text) • Rituals (practices) – services, ceremonies, holy days , rights of passage • Clergy – religious leaders (priests, rabbis, ministers, imams, the Pope)
Major Religions • Have a large population of followers • Examples – Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism • Sects – are divisions of a religion (Christianity – Roman Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox)
Cults • Cults – are religions that have a very small number of followers • Considered outside the norm of accepted religions of the time • All major religions started out as cults
DQ – How important / influential is religion in your life? Rank your answer on a scale of 1(hardly)-10 (extremely) and justify your answer
LT – How does religion influence (impact) culture? How influential is religion on culture? • Partner activity • Lets look at some current events • Using the chrome booksgo to my web page & go to the Yahoo link • Discuss • Look at a variety of current events / articles and see how religion might connect to these and influence culture • Evaluate how influential religion is on culture(scale of 1-10) • Support your ranking with specific ideas(relating to culture)
Let’s compare the major monotheistic religions in the world today…shall we • LT – I can identify, compare, and contrast the major characteristics that define the major monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. • LT – I can analyze and evaluate why these 3 religions don’t really don’t get along. • Group activity (3 per group) • Venh diagram (Judaism / Christianity / Islam) • Complete the diagram and answer the question on back
Religion Middle East is the birthplace – of 3 major world religions (monotheism – the belief in one god)
Judaism and Christianity - developed along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean * both – use the Bible (Old Testament) Jews use the Torah * Jews – do not believe in the New Testament (Life of Jesus as the Messiah) * Christianity –spread and took root in Europe and their colonies
Religion Islam – means “submission” to the will of God (Allah – same god as the Jews and Christians) * Muslims – followers of Islam * developed – in the Arabian Peninsula (Mecca – 600’s A.D.) * Founder – Muhammad (final prophet – messenger of God) * Holy Book – Koran (contains the 5 pillars of Islam – duties) * 2 main divisions – or sects (Sunnis / majority & Shiites or Shia’s which are the minority) * being hurt – by religious extremists (Osama bin Laden)
Group questions • How similar are these 3 religions? • Why do you think that these 3 religions tend to be in conflict with each other?
DQ -What is your reaction to these photos? What words come to mind? • Muslim • Arab • Islam • Terrorist • Suicide bomber • Iraq • Afghanistan
Is Islam a violent religion? Gay persecution by ISIS Sept. 11, 2001 Oregon Shooting Charlie Hebdo